Tegan and Sara find kindred spirits among the stars (with video)

Tegan and Sara will perform at Ambleside Park in West Vancouver on Aug. 31.
Photo courtesy of Lindsey Byrnes

Tegan and Sara

With fun.

Aug. 31, 5 p.m. | Ambleside Park (West Vancouver)

Tickets: $45 plus charges at livenation.com

Tegan and Sara Quin’s world is going pop.

With their latest album Heartthrob, the twin sister duo have embraced a club-ready, electro-pop vibe that has lead them to share the stage with some of the world’s biggest and brightest musical figures.

Just 10 days ago, Tegan and Sara joined singer Taylor Swift at her Staples Center concert in Los Angeles, performing their single Closer with the blond pop star, who is admittedly a big fan of the Quin sisters.

“She definitely knew all the words,” Tegan said when asked if they had to rehearse the song beforehand. “We ran it with her band once. It was pretty easy. She’s just awesome.

“Honestly, we do a lot of collaborations with artists and, of all the collaborations we’ve done, hers was the easiest. She was just like, ‘I love the second verse. Other than that let’s all sing at the same time. Do whatever you want, I just want to make people jump up and down at the end.’ And we were like, ‘Sounds good!’”

Much like Swift, whose latest album Red was a significant fork in the road, Tegan and Sara have opted for re-invention on Heartthrob, leaving behind the sharp-edged, piano/guitar indie pop style of albums like The Con (2007) and Sainthood (2009) in favour of glitzy synths, Swedish-style electro loops, and the production style of Greg Kurstin (Pink, Kelly Clarkson).

While at first glance the duo’s new direction may have seemed like a complete 180-degree turn, Tegan and Sara’s philosophy has always been one based on evolution. For the Quins, Heartthrob, which sees them shortlisted for a second time for the Polaris Music Prize, was the logical next step.

“I really feel there’s been a trend over the last five years where people have been embracing more electronic, dance stuff and pop stuff again — someone like Taylor Swift or Hayley (Williams) from Paramore; both are incredible, savvy business women who have intense relationships with their audience and have a knack for writing pop music with integrity and depth and a lot of emotion,” said Tegan.

“I see myself as an artist like that. We did not ever make blatant sounding pop music up until this point, but it’s undeniable that songs like Back In Your Head (from The Con) or Alligator (from Sainthood) are pop songs. I just think we weren’t necessarily interested in pop production.

“Similar to Hayley and Taylor, even though they’re younger than us, Sara and I have been making music for 14 years. Re-invention is a great word, but I think if anything we’ve been thinking about it as more of a ‘spruce-up.’ We just needed to invigorate ourselves again.”

Tegan cited her admiration for artists like Bruce Springsteen, whose work has been one of constant evolution.

“You can’t find two Bruce Springsteen albums that sound the same,” she said. “Every record we put out, there’s always people that say, ‘I wish you still played acoustic guitar like you did in 1998.’ The good news is that those records still exist and we still play a lot of stuff acoustically live. Sara and I are very clear: We don’t want to make music for an exclusive group of people. We make music for everyone.

“Sara and I represent something much bigger than our first record. I think people like us should be in the mainstream: We’re gay, we’re alternative, we’re outspoken and we write great music. Why can’t we infuse the mainstream with a bit of Tegan and Sara?”

The mainstream is obviously listening.

Earlier in August, Tegan and Sara joined the rap team of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis for a heartfelt rendition of Same Love, Macklemore’s ode to gay marriage, at the Osheaga music festival in Montreal.

In Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, whom they toured with in Europe, Tegan and Sara found kindred spirits in the fight for marriage equality.

“I think love is absolutely undefinable and there should not be restrictions — worldwide — for same-sex marriages, relationships and rights,” Tegan, who splits her time between Vancouver and Los Angeles, said. “And it’s so much broader than that: It’s about adoption rights, hospital visitation rights, benefits and all sorts of stuff. I think it’s really amazing to have someone like Macklemore, with the incredible power he has right now, to stand up on stage every night and say, ‘I don’t care if you agree with me. This is what’s right.’

“There were a lot of years where we felt we were the only ones standing up, where we felt so alone. And then we put out Heartthrob and all of a sudden Katy Perry and Kylie Minogue and Taylor Swift — these massive superstars — are saying, ‘These girls have got it.’

“And on top of that — (pop rock band) fun. is another example — they start organizations funnelling hundreds of thousands of dollars in LGBT awareness and marriage equality. These are my people. We’re proud.”

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